Mr Vasel, As you started this series with Cosmic Encounter, and your love for the game is well known. AND, you often speak of your love of teaching and playing C.E. It would be amazing if you would do a video on how to teach Cosmic Encounter. You do it often, by your own recounting and it would be fantastic to get your take on how to do it. Personally I would love to know how much detail you go into, when do you bring in, for instance, the rewards deck, etc.
You prolly dont care at all but does someone know of a tool to get back into an Instagram account..? I somehow lost the account password. I would appreciate any assistance you can offer me
@Mohammad Nehemiah i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and im in the hacking process atm. Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
I bought CE based on your review, i love it sooo much! I bought the base game and all the expansions. I played with different gaming groups and everyone was amazed by the powers, simplicity and crazyness this game provides. Thanks Tom, if we are ever in your area I would love to play a game. cheers
For a 6-player game and 195 aliens from which to choose, there are 70,656,049,360 combinations. I remember playing the 1977 version. But now I've no group that would enjoy this.
Cosmic Encounter is easily one of the best games of all time. Playing it on tabletop simulator is awesome! It's great if you can't get a game night going in person.
I just picked this up a few days ago. I was never really very interested in the game. But when my husband and I were at the game store looking for a new game that we could battle each other and play at least 5, we decided to try this. Even though we were looking more for a dice game. Boy were we pleased. The thing we realized about this game is that the play is simple easy to learn. But the game experience is like no other. There never seems to be downtime. You feel involved in every turn. So much is happening, everyone is talking laughing and planning. It's the experience we have fallen in love with. All my kids love it and want to play. If you can play and have fun even if someone backstage you. Get this game. Have fun with it, it's funny, annoying, amazing and sometimes just plain outrageous. We have added the first two expansions now and I look forward to playing with them. Great game!
I didn't think I would like Cosmic Encounter, but I tried it out a few months ago (largely based on your recommendation). It was hilariously fun (and we were just playing with 3). Of particular note, we were all new players, so none of us knew how high the numbers on the cards got, creating several "gotcha" moments.
One of the main problems of the game is that nowhere on the rulebook mentioned about negotiations of the Avalon or Diplomacy kind,yes you ask for support during fights and yes its only self-explanatory that you are going to negotiate at a point and at some level but thats what am talking about,the level of negotiations.While we played this game with my friends couple of times that was really missing cause although we did try to convince people to join us or not ti attack us later etc we didnt took the diplomacy/negotiation level too far cause we simply didnt knew we where supposed to.For example no one was negotiating until their turn came and no alliances where created of some sort ,only during attacks.So in conclusion we didnt liked the game althought i really wanted to but after i watched Vasels videos again together with some other reviews i realised that us what makes this game great,exaxtly this part,the netitiations ,the backstabbing and everything that comes with games of this type and puts this game in a different game category
What a passionate speech. I bought the digital TTS version and all it's expansions but now I wanna have them physically too. Hope I can find a copy in print. Thanks Tom for the infectious enthusiasm.
I have played cosmic encounter a number of times and I enjoy it for many of the same reasons that Tom pointed out. The variety, replayability and enjoyment from the multitude of aliens you and the table play is enviable as you do have to change your game style, sometimes incredibly drastically (i.e. Masochists). My biggest problem with Cosmic is the lack of stadegy and choice you're allowed for the time commitment. The destiny deck cancels any long-term strategy and turns it into a bunch of short-term opportunities. Yes it may prevent long-term collaution, but not even the lucky wins Cosmic with out colluding with somebody at the end. So victory, occurs comes to player order more often than not. Also, the action and enjoyment only happens between the main combatants while the other players just wait for them to finish. In a 6 player game, that becomes a punishment rather then a reprieve to stradegize. There are definitly aspects of this game that could be further refined to either allow more player choice or interaction so its not fun when its not just your turn.
Im a freshman and our school has a mini not well known club where we play modern board games like 7 wonders or the Grizald we played this game twice and it's amazing and nuts also completely different each time the second time we played my friend blew up his own planet and not even my teacher who has played it a billion times didn't even know you could do that
It would be cool if you could do a follow up video on "Why the common objections to this game don't bother me or make me dislike this game!" You gave a great response to the "I never got a turn" objection in this video. I'd also love to share your responses to the "bad hand" objection or the "too much chaos" objection or others. Again, I **LOVE** this game for the same reasons you do and more, but I've heard these objections andc would like to be ab;e to help people who have them see that there's a way to enjoy this game by looking at it differently.
This game is amazing! I agree that 5-6 is the sweet spot, which can be hard to reach sometimes unfortunately. Especially for a game that has so many phases and pieces and can seem daunting to new players.
Love this new series, Tom! I want to share this video with some members of my game group to try to explain to them why I love this game so much. Hope it will encourage more of them to want to try it with me again.
At last something more in-depth about GAMES. I was a little tired of topics like conventions, communities and gaming industry. Good to see something fresh. More in-depth gaming stuff I say! :) Cheers to all DT.
Also one of my favourite games Tom and one I got after watching a video of yours many years ago. I don't get it to the table as much as I would like but always enjoy it.
Man. I never realized that this is the same Cosmic Encounter I played when I was a kid. My step dad has the first edition and I played the mess out of that game with him. I love this game!
I had ALL of the expansions for the first version of the game. I lent it to a buddy. He went to college and I went into the navy and I never got it back. I just hope that he used it all the time. I'm asking for the latest version for christmas.
BTW, the number of combos grows very quickly. Even the small number that you mentioned with 20 different races and six players, the number of combinations is 20! (factorial) / 6! which is over 3 quadrillion combos.
Great new series, Mr. Vasel. There are 2 games I've wanted since the 80s, CE and Merchant of Venus. Finally landed a copy of Cosmic Encounter just this month!
It's Tom's love of this game that has sparked my love of games, however Cosmic still remains top of the heap for me. So much so that I hold a yearly tournament where we spend about five hours doing nothing but playing Cosmic. The stories from the tournaments are endless, there's truly no game like Cosmic.
6 players. You sir, are you crazy. This is definitely a game that if you play with the second encounter rules, you will have players that won't even take the turn. However, it's not so insignificant as this video makes it up to be. Some alien powers work only if you are the main player. With 6 players you are very likely to be just an ally which means you may get rejected from alliances and not use your powers at all. I do think that 3-5 is the magic range. What think to note about CE is that it can be wildly imbalanced. Sometimes aliens absolutely counter others. Some cards are crazy OP. Some powers are crazy OP. Your 3 player game may last 45 mins or it may last 4.5 hours. With all that said, CE is still an amazing and super fun game that does not take itself (and it's balance) seriously and neither should you.
Just procured a copy of this and Incursion in a recent Math Trade, so I'm excited to try it, as well as a little nervous. I've eyed CE for some time now, but never fully pulled the trigger on it. It's a game that's solely dependent on the people you play with. Nothing Personal didn't do it for me or many people I played with, but this one is a lot "easier" as far as rules goes,from what I've seen. I'll have to wait and see
Since the last post, I have played this game 6 times with 5 & 6 players, and I LOVE it, and pretty much completely agree with Tom here. I've only had two instances that made the game less than savory due to their behavior, both of which were by the same player, who I now refuse to play this game with again. Aside from that, every player has loved the game, and really the game's main weakness(aside from getting a terrible alien power) is the player's who play the game can make the game un-fun for the rest of the group. This can apply to any game really. If you, or someone you know, takes this too serious, and once the game is done are still angry/mad/sad/etc. then they shouldn't be playing games plain and simple. People take competitive-ness way to serious and will deflate and even mock a game if they aren't winning. Don't play with these people, hell make it known to them even, because I don't mind trash talking, I don't mind backstabbing, but when you bring the mood of everyone down at the table, then we got a problem. just saying
I love the variety too. A strong Alien in most games may be weak in another. Virus, Human, Warrior all are simple but solid aliens that increase your sides total which is most games is good but against the loser...sorry. :) Just awesome how much craziness can happen in any game. Some games are short, some are long. Best game of all time.
Only 149 comments (at writing of this comment) and about 68k views, whoever is interested in playing, its available in the game Tabletop Simulator on Steam and it works great and the table looks beautiful. great game to play with friends while in quarantine!
The designer might think it's better with 3 players so it's easier to track which cards other players might have and there is not that much chaos. Depends on what you like... chaotic Cosmic Encounter games are sometimes really fun :)
You said Cosmic Encounter came out the year before you were born... Thanks for making me feel old Tom :) I've been playing Cosmic Encounter as long as you've been alive :P It's my #1 game of all time for exactly the reasons you mentioned.
Hi Tom, I bought CE based on your review and have had a mediocre plus first play with my family and it has yet to revisit the table. I know there is an excellent game in there but my family are not convinced. I'm going to get them to play it again but next time will be make or break for it so I was wondering if there are any specific Aliens I could use that are not too extreme either way that would most likely ensure a good play through. I think that was a problem in the first game we played that someone had a really powerful Alien (can't remember which one it was at the mo) that kind of skewed the game and left people feeling it was unbalanced. Cheers and keep up the fantastic reviews you do, they are really appreciated :)
Great new series Tom! However, based on the sign-off line, we'll never know if you Love the game as the title suggests, or just LIKE it. Inquiring minds need to know!
I picket up a copy of Avalon for cheap. I hope it is a descent representation of the game to start with, as I just don't have the budget for the FF one right now.
Played the Games Workshop version with my dad and brother, probably when I was about 12. I remember being terribly disappointed. It looked cool, but then I didn't enjoy the gameplay. I've never been inclined to play it since. I can't quite remember why I didn't like it, but I'm not a big fan of heavy negotiating in wargames (especially diplomacy). -can sometimes feel a bit nasty. - though Tom implies it doesn't feel as harsh in Cosmic Encounter. I do like negotiation in trade games like Bohnanza and Catan, and social deduction games like werewolf. Judging by what Tom says - 3 players wasn't a great choice, and 12 might have been on the young side to fully appreciate it, so maybe I should give it another chance if the right opportunity presents itself.
Outright collusion is very possible in Cosmic Encounter, and you can a play a feasible 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 game. The Destiny deck may tell you to occasionally attack your ally but you have control over which planet to attack (i.e., one on which you already have a colony). Negotiation also allows allies to trade specific cards to the benefit of one or both participants in the battle (like giving a player his alien's flare). The win condition, in this case, would be whichever side has one player with 5 colonies, or if you want to make things more interesting, the first side to achieve 3 colonies per player.
If you are concluding, the win condition is for all the members of your alliance to get 5 points at the same time. If one member beats the rest to that point - oops, he wins. The rules account for outright collusion perfectly - they don't restrict it, it's certainly possible, but the game won't help you much on the way there.
+Joshua Hay I'm aware, and it's for that reason that I suggested the changes in the win condition to allow for open cooperation between players, making CE a more viable team exercise and preventing an untimely "oops" win. Try it. You might even have fun coming up with names for your alien alliance. :D
When I first discovered The Dice Tower, I noticed Tom speaking very highly about Cosmic Encounter. I did not know what my taste was in board games at that time. So I believed Tom and I bought the game hoping for an amazing game... but in my gaming group it was not received that good and it felt a bit like a dry and quite boring game actually. Is that the fault of the game? No, it is probably because of our personalities within our gaming group and the way we play and experience the game. In our gaming group are mostly introvert people (quite shy and not keen on negotiation). And that has its effect on this game. For example: we hardly ever invite allies, because we don't want anyone else getting a profit during our turn, unless we absolutely have to. But in most turns there are no allies invited by the attacker or defender. And when it is time to put a card on the table, we just... put a card on the table. We don't talk or negotiate about which card we are going to put on the table. We just choose a card... I still own the game, but I cannot say I ever had any fun experience with this game. Although I'm quite sure that if I ever get the chance to play this game with the Dice Tower crew, I'm sure I'm going to love it. They play this game entirely different. They talk, they laugh, they threaten :) Unfortunately that 's not how my board game group plays it... It seems the Euro games, like The Gallerist for example is a lot more up to their alley...
Still have this on my to-buy list but actually never bought it. I played it once with my gaming group and I look forward to playing it again. Endless replayability is my type of thing :D So the FFG version is the best? Is that the only version available now for sale? Hope to see more of these videos! Great idea, Tom. :D
Tom I have the old Avalon Hill edition and was wondering can I buy just the expansions? If not can I buy just the cards from the core set then buy the expansions ?
Are the original designers still getting royalties or any money for all these versions or did the designers sell the rights long ago. I know you said Fantasy Flight still have the rights, do that own the rights or are they currently just licensed to them?
They are licensed. I think Eon holds the rights and Future Pastimes is their design team.I believe the original designers were the driving force in getting this game on Tabletop Simulator, for example (only Future Pastimes is credited for that, not FFG). While some expansions did not involve them (Cosmic Storm), they were the main designers of Cosmic Eons.
The thing is Tom goes out of his way to always be involved in everyone's turn, he never stops talking when the DT does a live play. 😁 But those same live plays have shown that there were some people playing who were bored. There were players who weren't always involved. And I've seen this elsewhere and experienced this myself. Tom's view is seriously skewed by his love of the game. Same as with Sheriff of Nottingham, he throws himself into that game and loves it. But others find it really boring. Cosmic is one of those games (and there are many) that so needs the right players to work. (And yes I know this is called "Why I like..." and not "Why everyone likes...") 😁
Both games you mention (Cosmic Encounter & Sheriff of Nottingham) are very social games. If the people playing them are not social, or are not comfortable throwing themselves into a game, I can easily see how these games would not be their cup of tea.
Not sure if "social" is the right word, most gamers are social after all (excepting those who only ever play solitaire). Maybe "flamboyant" or "theatrical" 😄
Okay, maybe I should have used a different word than social. I was using social, not in the context of playing games with other people, but those who play games in order to enjoy the interaction between players as opposed to the interaction with the game and mechanics.
I'm always amazed at how much Tom loves Cosmic Encounter and how much he hates Diplomacy. Yes, they are different in a lot of ways. I can understand liking one much more than the other. But there's enough similarity that it seems odd for one to be a person's all-time favorite, and for the other to be passionately loathed.
I bet it has mostly to do with the way a target is chosen. In Cosmic Encounter, the "victim" is drawn randomly from a deck vs. several players deciding to gang up on someone and because of that it feels less personal.
CE is a lighthearted game, while Diplomacy is entirely serious and creates anger and frustration. I stopped playing Diplomacy because of how serious friends of mine took it, and how angry it made people at times. It made the experience feel more torturous than fun.
This game has zero to do with space. Literally zero. One of the best games ever designed. Try it with a group of nice, socially agile people, people who are OK with things not going their way at all. NOT euro gamers, oh god, please not euro gamers. And not the ones who are easily offended. And this game will rock your group. Guaranteed.
I would say everything :) They prefer the game itself and its mechanics to people they play it with. They like to stare at their own player mat and their resource cubes. They count and overplay games and avoid any direct interaction or luck in games. Basically avoiding fun :) Euro gaming has become some sort of a sub culture akin to MtG or wargames and it's incredibly hard to bring new players to the hobby through euro games.
we just played and I was philanthropist. I thought it would suck, but I almost won. by giving cards you can also prevent people from drawing new hands. and once you get the flare , forget about it... it's super powerful. when you give someone a card, they HAVE to play it on that encounter
The Machine makes me rage. I was playing with a newb. who got machine and was happily dominating the game with his everlasting turn. Unfortunately another player got Tick-tock and was all too happy to be his adviser, saying things like: "We were all just jealous of his power," etc.
Hey TOM or anyone that can help me with this.... i've been trying to get my hands on Cosmic Incursion (seeing that is the first one with the rewards deck) i haven't been able to find one and on the official web page of Fantasy Flight it says "out of stock" does someone know if theres gona be reprints or where can i get a copy of the expantions.
Two questions: 1. Is the title of the series Why I Like, but only for this particular game it has been changed to "love"? 2. Wouldn't it be funny if this was a one part series? :)
1. The impression I got was when he recorded this first video he was going to call the series "Why I like", and after recording decided to name the series "Why I Love" instead.2. Yes it would.
0:14 - Does anyone know what the game is that's in the top center shelf on the right, with the box art that looks like some kind of robot with a blue visor?
This looks like a good series :) Also, here is why I dislike Cosmic Encounter: A friend of mine has the game and several expansions for it. We played it a few times. The main problem was that the times between plays have been too long, so each time we had a few problems with the rules. The game has no fault in this of course. But for some reason the gameplay just doesn't "click" with me. Each game I play more or less the same. No matter which alien I have, the base didn't alter much for me. The Destiny deck was the only thing that mattered. I disliked the fact I couldn't choose my opponent, while on the other hand I see the need for it here. I have rarely seen someone not invite everyone to his side of the battle, except the attacker not inviting the guy just one point away. All the games felt rather samey. And I call foul to "no hand is unplayable". I once had a warrior race and my starting hand + following few carddraws contained a total of 5 negotiate card, I kid you not. I don't know how a veteran works around this, but I sure couldn't. I actually want to like this game, but it's too chaotic for me. There are my 5 cents.
The problem is with inviting everyone. The key to Cosmic is to know that cards are more important than ships. When you are the Offense, you need to play a card and commit ships. Anyone you ask to tag along only commits ships and gets the same amount of points as you. That's a deal they should always accept. So you should only let them do it when you absolutely need their help (of course "need" can mean anything from I need their ships to have any chance of winning, to I need their good will for later). This is the key point of the strategy that frequently takes new players a while to get (or they never do). Once you are playing this part of the strategy correctly, then you can move into the hand management/clever power, flare use/deeper alliances. For example, Negotiates are one of the stronger cards in the game. It's easy to see them as "surrenders," but since this is a hand management game, drawing cards from the other player's hand is huge. It's frequently worth it to give up a winnable fight to steal cards from a player you suspect/know has good stuff. It's far better to play a Negotiate and lose some ships and get some cards than play a losing Attack. Don't approach each Encounter as "Can I win? No, oh well." but as what you can gain regardless of the result for your score.
No game is going to click with every group. I've tried to introduce it to a few different groups and yeah, not everyone fell in love with it. And even if it is a game for you, it may take several plays to grok some of the strategy and tactics and tricks and so on. There are at least 4 ways of dealing with too many negotiate cards -- 1. you can try to convince your opponent to play a negotiate to make a deal, 2. you can try to convince your opponent that you have great cards so that he may play a negotiate, even if you don't want a deal, 3. you can simply let your opponent know you have rotten cards, hope that he'll keep his high cards, and then you can play the negotiates to get his best cards as compensation, 4. you can convince your allies that you are going to win with their help, so that you can bring them down with you. I don't recommend 4 because it can hurt your negotiations in the long run, but it's always an option. Certainly I'd rather not get all negotiates, but it's not the end of the world if you do.
To address your question about the Warrior, the answer is that a handful of Negotiates are a boon. After 2 encounters, you would have taken 8 cards(an entire other hand basically) and have added a +4 to your side in tokens for future encounters. If people think you are doing this as a strategy and try to draw you into a deal, you have more leverage to not have it fail as it generates additional tokens, making your chance of dealing for colonies higher. Getting more compensation will also increase your chance of getting the mobius tubes to reset the party for you, or for you to get your flare.
I used to enjoy this game, but then I came to the realization after several plays, that is basically the same as munchkin. Everyone gangs up on the person who is about to win in both games, and usually the second or third person in line to win manages to win.
I want a 42 anniversary all in big box expansion with new space stations....new reward cards...new tech cards...new hazards....new special ships...new variants...
There is one huge problem with this game. If the group selects one person not to win. There is nothing you can do. I win the majority of games in my group and they will not work with me and the lack of play made me trade it away.
Just giving friendly advice to people who may find themselves "ganged up on" in this game. With your pleasant, humble demeanor, it's hard to imagine others wanting to single you out for a loss. Perhaps it was your "intelligent play" that caused you to have a lack of success, instead?
Grudge, Sniveler, and Parasite are all aliens from the game that give you an advantage specific to your concern. Grudge hands out grudge tokens to those who will not let him ally. Sniveler whines when he doesn't get his way and the other players are forced into helping him, and the Parasite allows the player to ally at will. Wasn't calling you any names.
I wish Cosmic Encounter was a smoother game. The powers can cause some hiccups and confusion of priority of effects. Also, it sucks to teach this game to new players. The rules are kinda clunky and I wish it was easier to teach, I've had newer players run for the hills when this game is trying to be taught to them. People need to "see" it in action, at least in my experience. I don't think the theme really comes through, sometimes the powers come through thematically, but for me, more often than not, they just feel more mechanical than anything else. Also, in the groups I've played it, I don't like this arc the game has. The beginning and middle of the game, alliances come through a lot and almost dominate the playstyle of the game, until a majority of everyone gets their 4th colony. Then nobody wants to ally with people. Then all it comes down to are your cards and hopefully your power to come through for you. I like the game, but I don't think the game is all that anymore.
Well, Tom loves this one very much and he's been clear about it on multiple occasions. However, to me it's one of the most overrated games out there! * the downtime is ridiculous with higher counts * the game can end without you even having a turn * you cannot even choose who to attack on your turn in a game that's all about conquering other peoples' planets * forced catch-up mechanic is just stupid and makes every game feel the same ... * ... and in the end when everyone's on 4 points, someone draws "I win card" There're many other things I don't like about the game, it's comfortably my 3rd most hated popular game. And it's not like I didn't give it a chance - played it 3 times, even won once in a 7 player game but every game was such a drag! If it was ever remade into a 30 minute filler game with the same mechanics, I'd gladly play it.
This game has far too many types of cards ("variety") and it is stupidly random. I've played it twice and there is no strategy whatsoever. Whatever you play it doesn't matter because for sure 1 out of 5 people will have random stupid card that invalidates whatever hand you had. Unless one finds fun in randomness and wasting time I really don't see the hype of this game.
Fascinating. This might be the first useless video I’ve seen on this channel. I think maybe my experience was partially so different because I played with three people. But every game I played I was steam-rollered and never even had a chance of a comeback. It felt like I was ganged up on by a married couple and my power was useless. I still want to play more but I never saw a come-back playing this game. It seemed more like the player with the best power just destroys everyone else and someone plays a great gambit and I sit by and slowly lose.
Mr Vasel,
As you started this series with Cosmic Encounter, and your love for the game is well known. AND, you often speak of your love of teaching and playing C.E. It would be amazing if you would do a video on how to teach Cosmic Encounter. You do it often, by your own recounting and it would be fantastic to get your take on how to do it. Personally I would love to know how much detail you go into, when do you bring in, for instance, the rewards deck, etc.
You prolly dont care at all but does someone know of a tool to get back into an Instagram account..?
I somehow lost the account password. I would appreciate any assistance you can offer me
@Mohammad Nehemiah i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and im in the hacking process atm.
Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Mohammad Nehemiah It worked and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thanks so much you saved my ass :D
@Ashton Leroy happy to help :)
I bought CE based on your review, i love it sooo much! I bought the base game and all the expansions. I played with different gaming groups and everyone was amazed by the powers, simplicity and crazyness this game provides. Thanks Tom, if we are ever in your area I would love to play a game. cheers
For a 6-player game and 195 aliens from which to choose, there are 70,656,049,360 combinations. I remember playing the 1977 version. But now I've no group that would enjoy this.
Excellent idea Mr Vasel!! Looking forward to this serie!
Cosmic Encounter is easily one of the best games of all time. Playing it on tabletop simulator is awesome! It's great if you can't get a game night going in person.
I just picked this up a few days ago. I was never really very interested in the game. But when my husband and I were at the game store looking for a new game that we could battle each other and play at least 5, we decided to try this. Even though we were looking more for a dice game.
Boy were we pleased. The thing we realized about this game is that the play is simple easy to learn. But the game experience is like no other. There never seems to be downtime. You feel involved in every turn. So much is happening, everyone is talking laughing and planning. It's the experience we have fallen in love with. All my kids love it and want to play.
If you can play and have fun even if someone backstage you. Get this game. Have fun with it, it's funny, annoying, amazing and sometimes just plain outrageous.
We have added the first two expansions now and I look forward to playing with them. Great game!
I didn't think I would like Cosmic Encounter, but I tried it out a few months ago (largely based on your recommendation). It was hilariously fun (and we were just playing with 3). Of particular note, we were all new players, so none of us knew how high the numbers on the cards got, creating several "gotcha" moments.
One of the main problems of the game is that nowhere on the rulebook mentioned about negotiations of the Avalon or Diplomacy kind,yes you ask for support during fights and yes its only self-explanatory that you are going to negotiate at a point and at some level but thats what am talking about,the level of negotiations.While we played this game with my friends couple of times that was really missing cause although we did try to convince people to join us or not ti attack us later etc we didnt took the diplomacy/negotiation level too far cause we simply didnt knew we where supposed to.For example no one was negotiating until their turn came and no alliances where created of some sort ,only during attacks.So in conclusion we didnt liked the game althought i really wanted to but after i watched Vasels videos again together with some other reviews i realised that us what makes this game great,exaxtly this part,the netitiations ,the backstabbing and everything that comes with games of this type and puts this game in a different game category
What a passionate speech. I bought the digital TTS version and all it's expansions but now I wanna have them physically too. Hope I can find a copy in print. Thanks Tom for the infectious enthusiasm.
I have played cosmic encounter a number of times and I enjoy it for many of the same reasons that Tom pointed out. The variety, replayability and enjoyment from the multitude of aliens you and the table play is enviable as you do have to change your game style, sometimes incredibly drastically (i.e. Masochists).
My biggest problem with Cosmic is the lack of stadegy and choice you're allowed for the time commitment. The destiny deck cancels any long-term strategy and turns it into a bunch of short-term opportunities. Yes it may prevent long-term collaution, but not even the lucky wins Cosmic with out colluding with somebody at the end. So victory, occurs comes to player order more often than not. Also, the action and enjoyment only happens between the main combatants while the other players just wait for them to finish. In a 6 player game, that becomes a punishment rather then a reprieve to stradegize. There are definitly aspects of this game that could be further refined to either allow more player choice or interaction so its not fun when its not just your turn.
Philantropist is my favorite card! So much strategy involved in giving cards.
Im a freshman and our school has a mini not well known club where we play modern board games like 7 wonders or the Grizald we played this game twice and it's amazing and nuts also completely different each time the second time we played my friend blew up his own planet and not even my teacher who has played it a billion times didn't even know you could do that
It would be cool if you could do a follow up video on "Why the common objections to this game don't bother me or make me dislike this game!" You gave a great response to the "I never got a turn" objection in this video. I'd also love to share your responses to the "bad hand" objection or the "too much chaos" objection or others.
Again, I **LOVE** this game for the same reasons you do and more, but I've heard these objections andc would like to be ab;e to help people who have them see that there's a way to enjoy this game by looking at it differently.
Hello Charles, different in what way? does that has anything to do with what i mentioned above?
This game is amazing! I agree that 5-6 is the sweet spot, which can be hard to reach sometimes unfortunately. Especially for a game that has so many phases and pieces and can seem daunting to new players.
Looking forward to Eric's Merchant of Venus episode.
Gloomhaven is just sitting there, waiting for the right moment to steal Tom's heart. :v
Love this new series, Tom! I want to share this video with some members of my game group to try to explain to them why I love this game so much. Hope it will encourage more of them to want to try it with me again.
At last something more in-depth about GAMES. I was a little tired of topics like conventions, communities and gaming industry. Good to see something fresh. More in-depth gaming stuff I say! :) Cheers to all DT.
Very good. I'm looking forward to other episodes of this series. ...Sam should do TI3.
Also one of my favourite games Tom and one I got after watching a video of yours many years ago. I don't get it to the table as much as I would like but always enjoy it.
Man. I never realized that this is the same Cosmic Encounter I played when I was a kid. My step dad has the first edition and I played the mess out of that game with him. I love this game!
Great new video!! More classics like this, Agricola etc...
David Simpson has to be games he loves
I had ALL of the expansions for the first version of the game. I lent it to a buddy. He went to college and I went into the navy and I never got it back. I just hope that he used it all the time. I'm asking for the latest version for christmas.
Great idea for a series. Looking forward to it.
If I'm not mistaken, the intro uses the font from "And then we held hands" - very fitting.
You convinced me to give this a shot and I have never been disappointing. Such a fun game!
Great new series! Very keen to see all your other favourites.
BTW, the number of combos grows very quickly. Even the small number that you mentioned with 20 different races and six players, the number of combinations is 20! (factorial) / 6! which is over 3 quadrillion combos.
Great new series, Mr. Vasel. There are 2 games I've wanted since the 80s, CE and Merchant of Venus. Finally landed a copy of Cosmic Encounter just this month!
It's Tom's love of this game that has sparked my love of games, however Cosmic still remains top of the heap for me. So much so that I hold a yearly tournament where we spend about five hours doing nothing but playing Cosmic. The stories from the tournaments are endless, there's truly no game like Cosmic.
I'm an aspiring game maker, and after watching this, I have decided to take a shot making a game with similar mechanics... just to try it out.
Like the idea! Looking forward to the next installment!
6 players. You sir, are you crazy. This is definitely a game that if you play with the second encounter rules, you will have players that won't even take the turn. However, it's not so insignificant as this video makes it up to be. Some alien powers work only if you are the main player. With 6 players you are very likely to be just an ally which means you may get rejected from alliances and not use your powers at all.
I do think that 3-5 is the magic range. What think to note about CE is that it can be wildly imbalanced. Sometimes aliens absolutely counter others. Some cards are crazy OP. Some powers are crazy OP. Your 3 player game may last 45 mins or it may last 4.5 hours.
With all that said, CE is still an amazing and super fun game that does not take itself (and it's balance) seriously and neither should you.
Just procured a copy of this and Incursion in a recent Math Trade, so I'm excited to try it, as well as a little nervous. I've eyed CE for some time now, but never fully pulled the trigger on it. It's a game that's solely dependent on the people you play with. Nothing Personal didn't do it for me or many people I played with, but this one is a lot "easier" as far as rules goes,from what I've seen. I'll have to wait and see
Since the last post, I have played this game 6 times with 5 & 6 players, and I LOVE it, and pretty much completely agree with Tom here. I've only had two instances that made the game less than savory due to their behavior, both of which were by the same player, who I now refuse to play this game with again. Aside from that, every player has loved the game, and really the game's main weakness(aside from getting a terrible alien power) is the player's who play the game can make the game un-fun for the rest of the group.
This can apply to any game really. If you, or someone you know, takes this too serious, and once the game is done are still angry/mad/sad/etc. then they shouldn't be playing games plain and simple. People take competitive-ness way to serious and will deflate and even mock a game if they aren't winning. Don't play with these people, hell make it known to them even, because I don't mind trash talking, I don't mind backstabbing, but when you bring the mood of everyone down at the table, then we got a problem. just saying
I love the variety too. A strong Alien in most games may be weak in another. Virus, Human, Warrior all are simple but solid aliens that increase your sides total which is most games is good but against the loser...sorry. :) Just awesome how much craziness can happen in any game. Some games are short, some are long. Best game of all time.
Only 149 comments (at writing of this comment) and about 68k views, whoever is interested in playing, its available in the game Tabletop Simulator on Steam and it works great and the table looks beautiful. great game to play with friends while in quarantine!
I love...this series format!
The designer might think it's better with 3 players so it's easier to track which cards other players might have and there is not that much chaos. Depends on what you like... chaotic Cosmic Encounter games are sometimes really fun :)
You said Cosmic Encounter came out the year before you were born... Thanks for making me feel old Tom :) I've been playing Cosmic Encounter as long as you've been alive :P It's my #1 game of all time for exactly the reasons you mentioned.
Murr Rockstroh I was in jr high when Tom was born. Guess it's time to break out the rocking chair and cane. ;)
Hi Tom,
I bought CE based on your review and have had a mediocre plus first play with my family and it has yet to revisit the table. I know there is an excellent game in there but my family are not convinced. I'm going to get them to play it again but next time will be make or break for it so I was wondering if there are any specific Aliens I could use that are not too extreme either way that would most likely ensure a good play through.
I think that was a problem in the first game we played that someone had a really powerful Alien (can't remember which one it was at the mo) that kind of skewed the game and left people feeling it was unbalanced.
Cheers and keep up the fantastic reviews you do, they are really appreciated :)
I'm gonna buy the 2018 Fantasy Flight version in a few days. Just wish I could find the expansions too, but they're not available in my country.
Hats off to Cosmic Encounter!
Hope you spotlight obscure games too!
Great new series Tom!
However, based on the sign-off line, we'll never know if you Love the game as the title suggests, or just LIKE it. Inquiring minds need to know!
Just what I was looking for, thanks tom
I bet theres an awesome medieval / game of thrones style reskin for this game that could be made and would rock!
I for one want FFG to just stay with the license and keep pumping out expansions like Dominion haha
I picket up a copy of Avalon for cheap. I hope it is a descent representation of the game to start with, as I just don't have the budget for the FF one right now.
Played the Games Workshop version with my dad and brother, probably when I was about 12.
I remember being terribly disappointed. It looked cool, but then I didn't enjoy the gameplay. I've never been inclined to play it since.
I can't quite remember why I didn't like it, but I'm not a big fan of heavy negotiating in wargames (especially diplomacy). -can sometimes feel a bit nasty.
- though Tom implies it doesn't feel as harsh in Cosmic Encounter.
I do like negotiation in trade games like Bohnanza and Catan, and social deduction games like werewolf.
Judging by what Tom says - 3 players wasn't a great choice, and 12 might have been on the young side to fully appreciate it, so maybe I should give it another chance if the right opportunity presents itself.
From someone who has been in love with this game nearly as long as Tom, if you can get a 3 player game going with people who love it, it is a blast.
Outright collusion is very possible in Cosmic Encounter, and you can a play a feasible 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 game. The Destiny deck may tell you to occasionally attack your ally but you have control over which planet to attack (i.e., one on which you already have a colony). Negotiation also allows allies to trade specific cards to the benefit of one or both participants in the battle (like giving a player his alien's flare). The win condition, in this case, would be whichever side has one player with 5 colonies, or if you want to make things more interesting, the first side to achieve 3 colonies per player.
If you are concluding, the win condition is for all the members of your alliance to get 5 points at the same time. If one member beats the rest to that point - oops, he wins. The rules account for outright collusion perfectly - they don't restrict it, it's certainly possible, but the game won't help you much on the way there.
If collusion is someone's goal at the outset, that would be the last time they play with me.
+Joshua Hay I'm aware, and it's for that reason that I suggested the changes in the win condition to allow for open cooperation between players, making CE a more viable team exercise and preventing an untimely "oops" win. Try it. You might even have fun coming up with names for your alien alliance. :D
You convinced me at least to try it :)
Been awhile since i got to play cosmic, me and my girlfriend are coming to dice tower con this year maybe we can meet some people there to play with.
When I first discovered The Dice Tower, I noticed Tom speaking very highly about Cosmic Encounter. I did not know what my taste was in board games at that time. So I believed Tom and I bought the game hoping for an amazing game... but in my gaming group it was not received that good and it felt a bit like a dry and quite boring game actually.
Is that the fault of the game? No, it is probably because of our personalities within our gaming group and the way we play and experience the game.
In our gaming group are mostly introvert people (quite shy and not keen on negotiation). And that has its effect on this game. For example: we hardly ever invite allies, because we don't want anyone else getting a profit during our turn, unless we absolutely have to. But in most turns there are no allies invited by the attacker or defender.
And when it is time to put a card on the table, we just... put a card on the table. We don't talk or negotiate about which card we are going to put on the table. We just choose a card...
I still own the game, but I cannot say I ever had any fun experience with this game. Although I'm quite sure that if I ever get the chance to play this game with the Dice Tower crew, I'm sure I'm going to love it. They play this game entirely different. They talk, they laugh, they threaten :) Unfortunately that 's not how my board game group plays it... It seems the Euro games, like The Gallerist for example is a lot more up to their alley...
Already loved this game you made me love it even more tom. :)
Still have this on my to-buy list but actually never bought it. I played it once with my gaming group and I look forward to playing it again. Endless replayability is my type of thing :D So the FFG version is the best? Is that the only version available now for sale? Hope to see more of these videos! Great idea, Tom. :D
3/4 into the video I feel like I'm listening to Charlie day pepe Silvia scene
Cool new format! :)
On BGG it says game is 3-5 players... it is easy to add a 6th or 7th player? do you have to substitute additional pieces or something to do this??
I think your new show is called why I LOVE. :)
tbh I was hoping the alien mask would make a come back for this video xD
Tom I have the old Avalon Hill edition and was wondering can I buy just the expansions? If not can I buy just the cards from the core set then buy the expansions ?
I thought you could only play with dive people? How do you as more.. Do you have to get expansions?
The maximum in the base set is 5, but buying the expansions lets you go to 8.
Are the original designers still getting royalties or any money for all these versions or did the designers sell the rights long ago. I know you said Fantasy Flight still have the rights, do that own the rights or are they currently just licensed to them?
They are licensed. I think Eon holds the rights and Future Pastimes is their design team.I believe the original designers were the driving force in getting this game on Tabletop Simulator, for example (only Future Pastimes is credited for that, not FFG). While some expansions did not involve them (Cosmic Storm), they were the main designers of Cosmic Eons.
The thing is Tom goes out of his way to always be involved in everyone's turn, he never stops talking when the DT does a live play. 😁
But those same live plays have shown that there were some people playing who were bored. There were players who weren't always involved. And I've seen this elsewhere and experienced this myself.
Tom's view is seriously skewed by his love of the game. Same as with Sheriff of Nottingham, he throws himself into that game and loves it. But others find it really boring.
Cosmic is one of those games (and there are many) that so needs the right players to work.
(And yes I know this is called "Why I like..." and not "Why everyone likes...") 😁
Both games you mention (Cosmic Encounter & Sheriff of Nottingham) are very social games. If the people playing them are not social, or are not comfortable throwing themselves into a game, I can easily see how these games would not be their cup of tea.
Not sure if "social" is the right word, most gamers are social after all (excepting those who only ever play solitaire). Maybe "flamboyant" or "theatrical" 😄
Okay, maybe I should have used a different word than social. I was using social, not in the context of playing games with other people, but those who play games in order to enjoy the interaction between players as opposed to the interaction with the game and mechanics.
I'm always amazed at how much Tom loves Cosmic Encounter and how much he hates Diplomacy. Yes, they are different in a lot of ways. I can understand liking one much more than the other. But there's enough similarity that it seems odd for one to be a person's all-time favorite, and for the other to be passionately loathed.
I bet it has mostly to do with the way a target is chosen. In Cosmic Encounter, the "victim" is drawn randomly from a deck vs. several players deciding to gang up on someone and because of that it feels less personal.
CE is a lighthearted game, while Diplomacy is entirely serious and creates anger and frustration. I stopped playing Diplomacy because of how serious friends of mine took it, and how angry it made people at times. It made the experience feel more torturous than fun.
Well, now I'm resisting the urge to run out and buy this one. >.
Resistance is futile. You can play on Tabletop Simulator by the way. I got all the expansions on it. Very well done mod.
The best game ever designed.
I dont like space games, but all love you guys give this really makes me wanna try it :)
I'm the same. I just don't think it looks all that good but Tom loooooooves it.
This game has zero to do with space. Literally zero.
One of the best games ever designed. Try it with a group of nice, socially agile people, people who are OK with things not going their way at all. NOT euro gamers, oh god, please not euro gamers. And not the ones who are easily offended. And this game will rock your group. Guaranteed.
Ye, i got one in my gamegroup that would be a very bad idea to play with :P But i think it would fit in with the others :)
What's wrong with eurogamers?
I would say everything :) They prefer the game itself and its mechanics to people they play it with. They like to stare at their own player mat and their resource cubes. They count and overplay games and avoid any direct interaction or luck in games. Basically avoiding fun :)
Euro gaming has become some sort of a sub culture akin to MtG or wargames and it's incredibly hard to bring new players to the hobby through euro games.
I love this game. my friend tried to for so long to get me to play, once I did now he can't get me to play any other games. lol
we just played and I was philanthropist. I thought it would suck, but I almost won. by giving cards you can also prevent people from drawing new hands. and once you get the flare , forget about it... it's super powerful. when you give someone a card, they HAVE to play it on that encounter
We also play it kind of like a Larp
194 aliens in Tom's version :-)
benstylus I don't get it. Is there one alien he refuses to use?
Yes, I believe he doesn't use The Machine.
benstylus More than that, he can't use The Machine. 😄
He ripped that one up right after Jason picked it during the marathon right? lol
The Machine makes me rage. I was playing with a newb. who got machine and was happily dominating the game with his everlasting turn. Unfortunately another player got Tick-tock and was all too happy to be his adviser, saying things like: "We were all just jealous of his power," etc.
Hey TOM or anyone that can help me with this.... i've been trying to get my hands on Cosmic Incursion (seeing that is the first one with the rewards deck) i haven't been able to find one and on the official web page of Fantasy Flight it says "out of stock" does someone know if theres gona be reprints or where can i get a copy of the expantions.
Two questions:
1. Is the title of the series Why I Like, but only for this particular game it has been changed to "love"?
2. Wouldn't it be funny if this was a one part series? :)
1. The impression I got was when he recorded this first video he was going to call the series "Why I like", and after recording decided to name the series "Why I Love" instead.2. Yes it would.
Love Cosmic Encounter to death. I wish I could play it more"
Good job, Professor Scott Rogers, er I mean Tom! Mwahahahahahahaha
0:14 - Does anyone know what the game is that's in the top center shelf on the right, with the box art that looks like some kind of robot with a blue visor?
I believe that's Cry Havoc
Cry Havoc
Those images that keep coming on to the screen are a little annoying. You're charismatic enough Tom! :) Great Vid as per...
How many different hats do you own?
This looks like a good series :)
Also, here is why I dislike Cosmic Encounter:
A friend of mine has the game and several expansions for it. We played it a few times. The main problem was that the times between plays have been too long, so each time we had a few problems with the rules. The game has no fault in this of course. But for some reason the gameplay just doesn't "click" with me. Each game I play more or less the same. No matter which alien I have, the base didn't alter much for me. The Destiny deck was the only thing that mattered. I disliked the fact I couldn't choose my opponent, while on the other hand I see the need for it here. I have rarely seen someone not invite everyone to his side of the battle, except the attacker not inviting the guy just one point away. All the games felt rather samey.
And I call foul to "no hand is unplayable". I once had a warrior race and my starting hand + following few carddraws contained a total of 5 negotiate card, I kid you not. I don't know how a veteran works around this, but I sure couldn't. I actually want to like this game, but it's too chaotic for me. There are my 5 cents.
The problem is with inviting everyone. The key to Cosmic is to know that cards are more important than ships. When you are the Offense, you need to play a card and commit ships. Anyone you ask to tag along only commits ships and gets the same amount of points as you. That's a deal they should always accept. So you should only let them do it when you absolutely need their help (of course "need" can mean anything from I need their ships to have any chance of winning, to I need their good will for later). This is the key point of the strategy that frequently takes new players a while to get (or they never do). Once you are playing this part of the strategy correctly, then you can move into the hand management/clever power, flare use/deeper alliances.
For example, Negotiates are one of the stronger cards in the game. It's easy to see them as "surrenders," but since this is a hand management game, drawing cards from the other player's hand is huge. It's frequently worth it to give up a winnable fight to steal cards from a player you suspect/know has good stuff. It's far better to play a Negotiate and lose some ships and get some cards than play a losing Attack. Don't approach each Encounter as "Can I win? No, oh well." but as what you can gain regardless of the result for your score.
No game is going to click with every group. I've tried to introduce it to a few different groups and yeah, not everyone fell in love with it. And even if it is a game for you, it may take several plays to grok some of the strategy and tactics and tricks and so on.
There are at least 4 ways of dealing with too many negotiate cards -- 1. you can try to convince your opponent to play a negotiate to make a deal, 2. you can try to convince your opponent that you have great cards so that he may play a negotiate, even if you don't want a deal, 3. you can simply let your opponent know you have rotten cards, hope that he'll keep his high cards, and then you can play the negotiates to get his best cards as compensation, 4. you can convince your allies that you are going to win with their help, so that you can bring them down with you. I don't recommend 4 because it can hurt your negotiations in the long run, but it's always an option.
Certainly I'd rather not get all negotiates, but it's not the end of the world if you do.
To address your question about the Warrior, the answer is that a handful of Negotiates are a boon. After 2 encounters, you would have taken 8 cards(an entire other hand basically) and have added a +4 to your side in tokens for future encounters. If people think you are doing this as a strategy and try to draw you into a deal, you have more leverage to not have it fail as it generates additional tokens, making your chance of dealing for colonies higher. Getting more compensation will also increase your chance of getting the mobius tubes to reset the party for you, or for you to get your flare.
So wait... does Tom like Cosmic Encounter?
Almost as much as Zee likes Pandemic or Sam likes Blood Rage/TI3.
Is this game worth a buy, if it will usually be only 3 players?
Yes.
How do you play it with 6 people when theres only enough for 5 players?
Sandra Tran Expansion goes to 6.
Tom, I feel like you have already shared why you like Cosmic Encounter so much in a previous video.... but anyhow
I used to enjoy this game, but then I came to the realization after several plays, that is basically the same as munchkin. Everyone gangs up on the person who is about to win in both games, and usually the second or third person in line to win manages to win.
Except Munchkin takes 2-3 hours...... Also, sounds like you know the strategy - so use it! Mwahahahah!
Current? Eternal!
I want a 42 anniversary all in big box expansion with new space stations....new reward cards...new tech cards...new hazards....new special ships...new variants...
Waiting for Zee's pandemic video
I like it but it's fallen flat with many people I've tried it with unfortunately.
what stories does it tell ?
That's up to the players.
One thing I'll say is that it tells stories about surprises and sudden turnarounds.....
Why I Like, er, Love?.. It's complicated!
NO HAT!?
There is one huge problem with this game.
If the group selects one person not to win.
There is nothing you can do.
I win the majority of games in my group and they will not work with me and the lack of play made me trade it away.
Grudge, Sniveler, or Parasite against people who refuse to allow you to win.
I like to earn my victories Joe by intelligent play. No one allows me to win. You sir are the PARASITE.
Just giving friendly advice to people who may find themselves "ganged up on" in this game. With your pleasant, humble demeanor, it's hard to imagine others wanting to single you out for a loss. Perhaps it was your "intelligent play" that caused you to have a lack of success, instead?
Calling someone names is friendly advice.
Wake up buddy and nave a good look in the mirror for some self-reflection.
Grudge, Sniveler, and Parasite are all aliens from the game that give you an advantage specific to your concern. Grudge hands out grudge tokens to those who will not let him ally. Sniveler whines when he doesn't get his way and the other players are forced into helping him, and the Parasite allows the player to ally at will. Wasn't calling you any names.
Noice
a why i dislike series would be good to
I wish Cosmic Encounter was a smoother game. The powers can cause some hiccups and confusion of priority of effects.
Also, it sucks to teach this game to new players. The rules are kinda clunky and I wish it was easier to teach, I've had newer players run for the hills when this game is trying to be taught to them. People need to "see" it in action, at least in my experience.
I don't think the theme really comes through, sometimes the powers come through thematically, but for me, more often than not, they just feel more mechanical than anything else.
Also, in the groups I've played it, I don't like this arc the game has. The beginning and middle of the game, alliances come through a lot and almost dominate the playstyle of the game, until a majority of everyone gets their 4th colony. Then nobody wants to ally with people. Then all it comes down to are your cards and hopefully your power to come through for you.
I like the game, but I don't think the game is all that anymore.
where can i find the video or evidence of tom betraying his wife? It sounded fun!
Well, Tom loves this one very much and he's been clear about it on multiple occasions. However, to me it's one of the most overrated games out there!
* the downtime is ridiculous with higher counts
* the game can end without you even having a turn
* you cannot even choose who to attack on your turn in a game that's all about conquering other peoples' planets
* forced catch-up mechanic is just stupid and makes every game feel the same ...
* ... and in the end when everyone's on 4 points, someone draws "I win card"
There're many other things I don't like about the game, it's comfortably my 3rd most hated popular game. And it's not like I didn't give it a chance - played it 3 times, even won once in a 7 player game but every game was such a drag! If it was ever remade into a 30 minute filler game with the same mechanics, I'd gladly play it.
Gloomhaven will dethrone this one soon enough
Yev Blanco no it wont
This game has far too many types of cards ("variety") and it is stupidly random. I've played it twice and there is no strategy whatsoever. Whatever you play it doesn't matter because for sure 1 out of 5 people will have random stupid card that invalidates whatever hand you had. Unless one finds fun in randomness and wasting time I really don't see the hype of this game.
Fascinating. This might be the first useless video I’ve seen on this channel.
I think maybe my experience was partially so different because I played with three people. But every game I played I was steam-rollered and never even had a chance of a comeback. It felt like I was ganged up on by a married couple and my power was useless.
I still want to play more but I never saw a come-back playing this game. It seemed more like the player with the best power just destroys everyone else and someone plays a great gambit and I sit by and slowly lose.
I would NEVER play the game with three.
Terrible game.